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Admitting that the government’s role is to balance the interests of farmers and consumers, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday said the feeling of indifference towards agriculture among the new generation is a big challenge for which the government has been taking a number of steps to generate interest in the farm sector.
Addressing a conference in Delhi, organised by Plant Based Foods Industriy Association (PBFIA), Tomar said: “The benefit of the farmer is important and it is also necessary to give prestige to the farmer. Money can be earned by doing any work, but the money will be in the pocket and if the farmer starts looking at the farming with indifference. Then you do not have goods to buy, even if you have money. This is our first responsibility to ensure that people are inclined towards farming, should remain engaged in agriculture.”
Referring to the presence of industry representatives, the minister asked them to work closely with farmers. “The office bearers of the association (PBFIA) are sitting. You may innovate varieties of soya products, but to produce those items you need soyabean, which has to be grown by a farmer. No matter how many processing units of millets we set up, no matter how many millet start-ups come up, you need millet farmers. So whether it is land or farmer or his needs, these are the fundamentals based on which the government takes decision.”
Create jobs
Tomar said plant-based foods will create job opportunities and boost agriculture and also may offer alternatives to those who eat non-vegetarian foods. In view of the challenges that agriculture is facing, a plant-based alternative diet is an important step, he said.
Stressing that impending crisis of future can be averted if options are thought about now based on possible requirement of the future when population will further grow, the minister said food security is a major challenge, In the coming decades, as India has set a goal to become a developed nation by 2047, due to works like infrastructural development, laying of new railway lines in large numbers, construction of world class national highways, every one should be prepared for possible reduction in the area under cultivation.
Along with food security, it is the need of the hour to prepare alternatives from the point of view of nutrition, he said.
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